European Licensing Company signs Zenit St. Petersburg

The European Licensing Company has signed a deal to represent Russian football team Zenit St. Petersburg.

The Russian side joins Barcelona, Manchester United, Juventus and Brazil on the ELC portfolio.

“Representing the biggest football club in Russia is a major development for us and we are delighted to have signed this deal with Zenit St. Petersburg,” says Hakan Durdag, CEO at ELC.

“Our wide-ranging experience of sports licensing is combined with our innate understanding of the Russian market and we will be working hard to develop the Zenit brand across Russia by extending it into a whole host of categories.”

Zenit St Petersburg has the biggest fanbase in Russia, with close to 10 per cent of the Russian population, around 13 million people, supporting the club.

The side has won the Russian Premier League three times in the last six years as well as the UEFA Cup back in 2008.

“ELC has already shown itself as a trusted partner in the field of sports licensing, representing such famous football brands like Juventus, Barcelona and Manchester United in Russia and Europe," added Dmitry Mankin, commercial director of FC Zenit.

"We are very pleased that our interests on major license categories will be represented by an agency with a worldwide reputation. We hope that our joint cooperation will bring our licensing business to a new level”.